Down the Rabbithole
by Bubble Wrapped Kitty
Summary: Alice and Hatter's lives are turned upside-down when Hatter is kidnapped. To rescue him Alice is forced to return to Wonderland, but it may turn out that saving Hatter is only one of their problems: magic and time are going mad, and the forgotten line is resurfacing. The secret to saving both worlds lies in the most treacherous place of all - the Mad Hatter's mind.
1. Prologue

AN: Welcome to my second big project of the year! This story will officially be premiering in June of 2014 but I thought I would post a bit of a "teaser trailer" to get everyone excited. I've been secretly working on this story for over two years now and it's turned into quite the epic, so strap in for the long-haul and I hope you enjoy!

* * *

**Prologue**

_A bitterly cold wind swept through the open field, but nothing could chase away the stifling thickness of the air. It was full and heavy, bloated with anticipation. The only movement visible was the sway of the emerald grass and, in the distance, the rustling of the trees that lined the field. Alice felt a tremor of fear whirl through her as she gazed around at the bleak, foreboding surroundings and wondered where she was and, most importantly, how she'd gotten there._

_"Where and when and why and how?"_

_Alice spun around, looking for the source of the voice, but she was still alone. The voice had seemed to come from nowhere and everywhere at once, a condescending tenor with a strange, sing-song quality. "Who are you?" she shouted, but her voice was carried away on the wind so quickly that she hardly heard it herself._

_"No-one of importance but someone of great consequence."_

_Whoever had spoken had clearly heard her, but she couldn't find them anywhere. "What do you mean?" she asked, and then decided on a more pressing question, "Where am I?"_

_"In a dream, of course." This sentence was punctuated by a low rumbling sound, something that she knew she had heard before, but couldn't directly place._

_"Why?" she asked, narrowing her eyes as she scoped out the trees for some sign of life._

_The rumble rose in volume, staggering slightly so she almost thought it was laughter. "Why does anyone dream, Alice of Legend? Because there's something they need to see." Alice's heart jumped into her throat at the response. Alice of Legend. There was only one place where that name meant anything._

_"Am I in Wonderland?"_

_"No, you're in a dream." Alice felt a slight brush along her ankles, soft and tickly. She glanced down and found herself facing a squat gray-and-violet striped tabby with luminous yellow-green eyes like lamps in its furry face. The steady rumble was its purr. "I did just tell you that, after all." The cat's mouth wasn't moving, but there was something in the intensity of its eyes that made her certain; it was the cat who had been speaking to her all along. "You Alices really are so illogical."_

_She had been about to respond to that, but a sudden disturbance of noise caught her attention and she looked up. Two figures were flying out of the trees on either side of the field, heading straight for each other at a dizzying speed. It took her eyes a second to make out the details of the sight._

_On the left hand was a jet black unicorn, steam billowing from its nose as it charged with its silvery horn lowered threateningly. To the right was a massive, golden lion; a primal roar exploded from between its fanged teeth and the wind tossed its bronze mane so wildly it looked like fire. She had barely gotten a good look at them before the two collided in the dead centre of the field. Alice balked and turned her eyes away at the sickening sound of the crash._

_"You aren't here to _ignore_ the signs," the cat's voice chastised her mockingly. "Scared little Oyster, afraid of the truth."_

_"What truth?" she rebutted, staring down into the glowing eyes._

_"You shan't know unless you see. With your head in the sand you see nothing but sand."_

_Alice desperately wanted to snap back in annoyance, but instead she lifted her gaze to the chaos in the middle of the field. The unicorn and the lion were engaged in a vicious battle; a horn stabbed and claws slashed. All around them the grass crumpled and fell, as if it had been trampled flat despite being untouched, and the dirt below seemed to be a dark crimson._

_Suddenly the unicorn reared and kicked the lion. When the large beast staggered under the blow, the unicorn bolted straight for Alice. She wanted to run – to hide and protect herself – but her feet seemed to be frozen to the ground. A scream caught in her throat as she watched the unicorn's blood-streaked horn coming closer._

_And then it slowed, and finally stopped only a few feet in front of her. Its dark eyes stared at her calculatingly before it ducked its head and became interested in something at its feet. Alice leaned forward in curiosity, peering over the fallen grass, and her eyes landed on a worn black top hat between the unicorn's front hooves. It stuck its nose inside, but then drew back with an angry snort._

_She guessed what would happen right before it did, but her exclamation of alarm never made it passed her lips. The unicorn stomped on the hat, crushing the brim and collapsing it beneath the force of its heavy hooves. Only after it had been thoroughly flattened did the unicorn lower its head again, and this time when it lifted its head there was a shining gold pocket-watch clutched in its teeth._

_At that moment the lion had recovered and it leapt back into the fray. While they fought savagely, the poor hat was battered and torn up beneath their angry feet. For a reason she couldn't explain, Alice felt an anguish she'd never know flood through her, bringing tears to her stinging eyes._

_The longer the lion and the unicorn brawled, the worse the land around them deteriorated as well; the grass lay yellow and dead, and the trees dried and branches broke as their leaves tumbled away on the breeze. Soon there was nothing left but destruction and the battle._

_The cat purred loudly and drew Alice's eyes downward again. Sitting on the ground next to it were the shredded remains of the hat, and on the other side was the golden timepiece, with a large fracture in its glass face and the hour-hand bent at an unnatural angle. Another voice came this time, echoing distantly like the cat's, but this one was familiar._

"The clockwork's not ticking properly."

_At her feet the cat's lips stretched and curled into a grotesque grin, filled with sharp, pointed teeth, and its voice came one last time with an ominous warning in its tone._

_"And then, Alice of Legend, all will be lost."_

* * *

Alice Hamilton bolted upright in bed with a startled scream, her heart racing as her eyes darted around in the darkness for some clue as to where she was. The movement woke her sleeping partner, who was instantly on his knees on the mattress, his right hand coiled into a fist in preparation for trouble. When he saw there was none, his gaze turned to Alice, who was still struggling to catch her breath.

"Alice, love, what's'a matta?" he asked anxiously, relaxing his hand and scooting closer to her on the bed.

Taking a deep breath, Alice let her eyes sweep over the man kneeling beside her. He was wearing only a pair of boxers and his skin seemed to glow in the darkness beneath the unruly mop of chocolate-coloured hair on his head. He had one hand on her shoulder comfortingly, but it was truly his eyes that spoke to her. Those deep, brown eyes were fixed solely on her with concern and compassion. Her Hatter.

"Nothing," she said, shaking her head. "Bad dream."

Hatter reached across her to turn on the bedside lamp, and as the orange light flared in the room she felt his eyes examining her face determinedly. "You sure?" he asked uncertainly.

"I'm fine," she said and this time her voice was a little more under control. It had only been a dream. There was no reason to get worked up over a silly nightmare. She'd certainly had plenty of those in the ten months since she'd come back from her adventure in Wonderland; nightmares of brightly coloured liquids in bottles, and suit-clad men with guns, and crumbling pathways that descended hundreds of feet into gray fog. And yet even while there, she'd never seen anything as outlandish as a lion and a unicorn having a deadly battle over a pocket-watch.

Even though he still didn't look convinced, Hatter's free hand reached up to trace along the side of her face tenderly. Alice sighed and leaned into his warm palm. "Your da again?" he asked gently. She couldn't stop herself from shuddering. Those were some of the worst nightmares of all; the crack of the gunshot, her father's pained face, the halo of blood, and the feel of the man who she'd only just gotten back slipping through her fingers like water.

Hatter seemed to take that as an affirmative answer, because he pulled her into his arms and began rubbing her back soothingly. She accepted the affection gratefully, nestling her head into the curve of his collarbone and allowing him to wrap himself around her. No matter how badly her dreams shook her, this was always her safe place. With her Hatter.

"You want a cuppa?" he asked when some of her shivering had abated.

Alice smiled against his skin at the characteristic gesture – he firmly believed all troubles could be solved with a cup of warm tea – and shook her head. "Let's just go back to sleep."

Hatter hummed his agreement and he loosened his grip on her just enough to reach out and turn the lamp off again. They slipped back beneath the covers, and the moment they were tucked in he drew her back to his body securely. With any other person the closeness may have made her feel stifled, but he was different. They were different.

"I'll make sure you're safe, yeah." The sleepy assurance warmed her heart, and Alice nuzzled her head against his chest. Clearly now that he knew there was no danger, Hatter's exhaustion had crept back up. It only took a few minutes for his breathing to slow into low snores, although his thumb never stopped its steady swipes back and forth across her upper arm.

Closing her eyes, Alice let the rhythmic thumping of Hatter's heart beneath her ear calm her. Despite what she'd told him, she was still unnerved from the dream. It wasn't so much the bloody and violent battle, or the mysterious talking cat, or even the perplexing anomaly of the pocket-watch and the top hat. No, what worried her worst of all was the one sentence that had been spoken in an all-too-familiar voice.

_"The clockwork's not ticking properly."_

That voice had belonged to Hatter, and it wasn't the first time that she'd heard him say it either. It was one of the random phrases he sometimes muttered to himself when his mind was occupied. She had always accepted it as one of his many eccentricities, but its appearance in her dream – especially in connection with the broken face of the pocket-watch – sent an ominous prickle down her spine.

The clockwork wasn't ticking properly, because the timepiece was broken. And she couldn't help but wonder just what lengths the battling animals would go to in an attempt to get their hands on that watch.

This is stupid, she chided herself irritably. What was she fussing about so badly? It was only a dumb dream, the result of one too many slices of pizza before bedtime or something of the like. Wonderland and all its madness was in the past now, and that's where it would stay. She forced the images to the back of her mind and curled herself closer to the sleeping form of her Hatter. They were just dreams.

Content with that line of thought, she finally drifted back to sleep a short time later. This time she didn't dream, but when the alarm clock woke her in the morning she could still see the after-image of a fanged smirk and a pair of gleaming eyes burning against her retinas.


	2. Chapter One

AN: And here it finally is! Settle in for the long haul, folks, this is going to be a grand adventure.

* * *

**Chapter One**

Hatter blinked blearily and drank in the feeling. It was the crack of dawn, the sun not even slipping above the horizon yet, and it was without a doubt his favourite time of the day. He would need to get out of bed soon, but for now he was allowed a few minutes of peace to simply enjoy, and he planned to absorb them fully.

The bed was warm, doubled by the heat from the body curled around his side, and the half-light in the room bathed everything in a pale golden glow. He smiled and pressed a kiss to the top of Alice's head, smoothing down some of her sleep-tossed hair with a hand. She murmured in her sleep and nuzzled her cheek against his collarbone. Whatever dreams she had had during the night were clearly gone and she was dozing serenely.

Closing his eyes, he let his head sink down into the pillow again and immersed himself in the comfort of their shared bed. In all of his life he had never known contentment like he had found with his Alice. It had been a leap of faith, coming through the Looking Glass and chasing after her, but the life they had made was better than he could've dreamt. Alice had welcomed him with open arms – and a whole kettle of truly delightful snogging – and while it hadn't always been easy, things had only grown better with time.

The flat and Oyster money that Jack Heart had signed over to him kept him going until he found his own way. Only six weeks after coming to the Oysterworld, he had stumbled across an empty shop with a flat above it for sale, and he'd used the considerable amount of paper-money he had to purchase it for himself. It was liberating, owning his own place again, and he converted the empty downstairs into a proper tea shop. Four weeks after moving into his flat, he had just as many of Alice's things in his closet as his own, and three weeks after that she had officially moved in with him.

And still, seven months later, he was stunned by the warmth in his chest whenever he woke up to see his pretty little Oyster curled up beside him.

Hatter glanced at the clock on the bedside table and his contented sigh quickly morphed into a weary groan. He really did need to get out of bed now. The tea shop opened in just over an hour, and there was a whole lot of brewing to be done before the morning crowd started showing up. Pushing the blankets off his body, he started to carefully extract himself from the slender arms around his chest. Alice moaned and tightened her grip, clinging to him like a Mome Rath stuck to a wheel of cheese. Hatter smirked a bit to himself at the thought and with a little more manoeuvring he managed to replace his body with his pillow.

Dressing quietly in the dark so as not to disturb Alice – she was meaner than a mother Bandersnatch when woken up before she needed to be – Hatter slipped out into the main room of the flat. He grabbed a bagel from the kitchen cupboard and his favourite black pork-pie hat from the table beside the door. He flicked it into the air with a practiced movement – it landed on top of his naturally dishevelled hair just as he pulled the door open – and then jogged down the stairs into the darkened shop.

His morning was a habitual circuit of patterns; turning on lights, putting kettles on the stove, readying the tea leaves, setting out the cups. The whole thing, which had just been a bit of frantic scrambling at the beginning of this adventure in business, had quickly turned into a routine for him. He knew which things needed to be done first and had mastered all of the best ways to multi-task without letting teas steep too long or the dishes pile up. By seven o'clock the doors were open and the first of the daily customers had shuffled in.

"Mornin', Arthur," Hatter said brightly to the middle-aged man with the drowsy eyes as he came through the door only minutes after he'd unlocked it. He turned to the kettles, already preparing the paper cup with the same tea the older man ordered every day.

"Morning, David," Arthur replied and spared him a sleepy smile. "I don't know how you're always so happy this early."

Hatter chuckled, adding a bit of lemon to the tea. The bitter yellow fruit was excellent for waking up the Oysters. "Just a mornin' man, I reckon," he said and shrugged. "'Sides, I got m'self a right nice sight to wake up to."

Arthur opened up his wallet, grinning and leaning one elbow onto the long front counter. "That just sounds like another reason to stay in bed if you ask me." Hatter smirked as he accepted the folded bit of paper-money and passed the paper cup across to the other man. He couldn't really argue with him there. "Thanks, David. Don't know what I'd do without your magic tea. See you tomorrow."

Hatter called out a farewell as the older man left, and then leaned against the counter with a smile. It had amazed him how much the Oysters loved his teas here. In Wonderland, human tea had been a worthless commodity, the sort of thing that only the richest could waste their money on.

He'd always adored the drink and he had spent a decent share of his shop's profits on the tins of tea leaves smuggled over from the Oysterworld. Over the years he'd gotten a handle on which sorts of teas treated which sorts of ailments, and what sorts of additives caused which outcomes; lemon battled fatigue, lavender aided sleep, honey was good for chest colds, that sort of thing.

For ease of familiarity and out of a long-standing habit, he had named all of the tea brews quite pointedly for the feeling they were designed to encourage, much the way Wonderland Teas had been labelled. In this world the business had started out slow – apparently tea still wasn't much of a practical trade on this side of the Looking Glass – but word had spread like wildfire and soon people were flocking into the shop for his "magic" drinks.

The little bell above the door jingled playfully, signalling the entrance of another customer, and Hatter put on his most winning smile as he made to greet the steady stream of familiar faces. And so the day had begun.

* * *

Alice clapped her hands together once and felt a smile creep onto her lips as the dojo studio fell silent almost instantaneously. "I'll see you all on Thursday," she said, by way of dismissal. A familiar rustling and murmur spread through the room as her students gathered their things and headed for the door. She returned the few farewells that were tossed her way by the more social – or the less breathless – students as she walked over to her duffel bag.

Picking up the hand-towel tucked into the front pocket, she dabbed away the sweat that had beaded on her forehead during the exercise. It had been a long day already and she still had two more classes to go before she could go home, where she'd promptly change and start helping out in Hatter's shop. He'd never asked for her help, but she liked being a part of his new life here and she could tell he appreciated having her around. It might have been almost a year that he'd been in her world now, but he still wasn't fond of being left alone for long.

If she was honest with herself, she was in a bit of a hurry to get home to him today too. She had tried to push the strange feelings to the back of her mind, but the truth was that her nightmare had been haunting her all day. It had been intense and graphic, and there was something about that cat that had distantly triggered something in her mind, even if she couldn't quite place what that was. The whole thing had set her on edge and it was making her jumpy. When she was uneasy there was only one thing that made her feel better; Hatter wrapping his arms around her and offering her a cup of tea.

Alice shook her head and tossed her hand-towel back into her bag. She just needed to keep moving, that's all. Striding out into the middle of the vacant room, she readied herself and then set through the familiar motions of the judo exercises she'd been doing since she was ten. They were comfortable but just challenging enough that she was forced to keep her mind focused on the task at hand.

Moving on, she started running through the plans for her next class, an advanced black-belts class. Her muscles moved out of reflex, carrying her through open-handed punches and leg-kicks with the ease of experience. After the wild fighting for her life that she'd done in Wonderland, these classes seemed almost inanely simplistic.

Alice caught sight of her reflection in one of the mirrors on the wall and immediately froze. It wasn't so much her own reflection that had seized her attention; no, it was the sight of another figure behind her that had jarred her to a stop. She planted her foot and pivoted sharply.

The dojo was deserted.

Frowning, Alice walked across to the door and looked out into the hall, but she couldn't see anyone in the wide corridor that led to the recreation centre's lobby. She could've sworn she'd seen someone watching her – an indistinct figure in a shabby brown trench-coat. A feeling of dread crept into her and she looked back at the mirror again, but all she could see was her own pale and sweaty reflection staring back at her.

"I'm going crazy," she murmured with a half-hysterical laugh, aware that talking aloud to herself was a sure sign that what she'd said was true. After all, Hatter talked to himself habitually, and he was clearly insane, albeit in a charming and harmless sort of way.

"Hey there, Alice."

She jumped at the voice and then immediately blushed at being caught off guard. One of her black-belt students, a local policeman, was coming down the hall toward the classroom, already dressed in his gi. "Hi," she responded and then stepped into the room so he could pass through the door.

"You alright there?" he asked, eyeing her in concern. "You look a little white."

"Fine," she said and forced casualness into her tone. "Just didn't sleep well last night." That, at least, wasn't a lie. Thankfully he wasn't able to question her any further because the rest of the class started to filter in one-by-one and gave Alice a legitimate reason to ignore the whirlwind of thoughts trying to surface in her mind. She waited until the last person had shown up, and then clapped her hands together loudly. "Alright, let's start on our stretches."

* * *

"David! Excitement, to go." Hatter glanced over his shoulder at the teenage boy who was currently manning the front counter. He had been fine with running the place all on his own, but the increased business had made it necessary to bring on an extra hand during the middle of the day when he couldn't quite keep up with all of the orders. Alice did a good job of helping out when she was around, but between her judo classes and her studying at the city college – which she'd picked up at the end of the summer – her free time was limited.

Trevor Mills had been a student at the secondary school a few blocks down, and he had stopped by every morning on his way to his classes. There was something about him that Hatter had immediately liked – apart from the fact that he knew teas like it was his native language and had introduced Hatter to a bakery that made the most _fantastic_ cream cakes – and when he'd offered the boy a job after he'd graduated, Trevor had accepted instantly. It had definitely lowered Hatter's own stress level a deal.

"Right-o," Hatter shouted back and picked out the proper leaves, folding them into a thin paper bag. Once it was secured he dropped it into a cup and filled it with boiling water from the kettle. Clipping on the lid, he turned and handed the cup across the counter to the jumper-clad woman on the other side. She flashed him a grateful smile before she walked away.

"The rush is clearing out now," Trevor said, looking up from the stack of receipts he was pinning together beside the register. "We should be all right for a bit until everyone starts getting off work."

"Bloody busy day," Hatter murmured, nudging aside his hat to run his fingers through his hair. He stared out over the shop tables, where the people with a few free minutes were clustered around and enjoying their drinks. "This keeps up I'm gonna have to bring on anotha one o' ya."

Trevor laughed. "I know plenty of hungry college kids who could use the extra cash," he replied with a grin. Hatter hummed to show he'd heard, but he wasn't seriously considering the idea straight off. If he was going to bring someone into the business, he wanted it to be someone who gave a damn. He'd made the mistake of getting tangled up with people who were only in the business for the money, and while he knew things were different here than in Wonderland, he wasn't going to risk making that mistake again.

"Why don' ya go gather up the cups and get 'em washed while it's slow," he said. "I got the counter."

"Aye, aye, boss," Trevor said with a smirk and a mock salute. Hatter couldn't entirely hold back his laugh at the gesture as the teen scarpered off with a tray to start collecting the used tea cups left behind on the tables.

His attention turned down to the counter, flicking through receipts and marking the sales off against the little inventory book Alice had given him. However he'd only been at it for a few beats of a Tove's heart when he felt an unnatural prickling on the back of his neck, a feeling he was well used to; the feeling of being watched.

Immediately, Hatter's eyes darted upward at the glass front of the shop. There was a quick blur of movement that disappeared passed the edge of the window frame, but the brief glimpse he'd gotten made his heart fall down into his stomach. "Can't be," he hissed in horror. Forgetting the books, he bolted around the counter and across the shop, Trevor's alarmed question falling on deaf ears. He barrelled out onto the sidewalk and looked around.

The Oysters walking passed him were shooting him curious looks, but Hatter ignored them as his eyes scoured the crowd. He had been so sure he'd seen – but no, it couldn't have been. Still, he surveyed every visible face one last time before letting out a breath of relief. He'd imagined it. He had to have.

"Uh, David?" He glanced back to see Trevor standing in the shop doorway, looking uncertain. "You all right?"

"Uhn," Hatter grunted out and then quickly collected himself. "Thought I saw an old mate. It's nothin'." Trevor's forehead was still furrowed in concern, but he nodded and went back inside. _The boy really is too observant sometimes_, Hatter mused before following him into the shop.

The after-work crowd showed up not long after, and the chaos and franticness helped Hatter to keep his mind occupied, but he still couldn't shake that odd feeling he'd gotten in the pit of his stomach. There was no way he'd seen the face he thought he had, but for that brief second when he had believed it, there had been nothing but ice cold terror in his chest. The sort of terror he hadn't felt in ages – not since he was a helpless street orphan being dragged off to where the Chemists were experimenting with the effects of Oyster drugs on Wonderland kids. The very memory made Hatter curl his right hand reflexively, until the teacup he was clutching shattered and he remembered himself.

No, there was no way he'd seen that face in the Oysterworld. The Looking Glass was dormant, the Stone of Wonderland carefully hidden away beneath a loose floorboard upstairs, and all of those dark faces from his past were on the other side of the glass where they belonged. He'd just let his mad mind wander off on its own again, that's all.

"David! Maggie wants her usual," Trevor called.

All of the contemplativeness instantly slipped away as his customary grin bounced right back onto his face. "Hullo Maggie," he said with a wave to the elderly woman standing opposite the register from his young helper. "One cuppa Serenity, comin' up."

And as he prepared the relaxation tea for his customer, he made a cup for himself as well. He clearly needed it.


	3. Chapter Two

**Chapter Two**

"Hatter, are you okay?"

"Hmm?" Hatter glanced up from the tabletop to where Alice was standing elbows-deep in soapy dinner dishes. They had a long-standing agreement that whoever didn't cook dinner would do the dishes; with Alice's abysmal cooking skills, she most often ended up with the chore.

"You okay?" she repeated.

"Course," he replied. "Why you askin'?" By way of answer she pointed at his hands. He looked down and realised he'd been twirling his hat between his fingers at a dizzying speed. He immediately stilled his hands.

"I'm fine, love," he assured her. "Just thinkin' on some things."

Alice nodded and went back to scrubbing the stew pot. "What kinds of things?" Her voice was soft and curious, but he could still feel the concern coming off her in waves. It fascinated him the way Oysters felt emotions so strongly that they seemed to radiate them. He felt more clearly than most Wonderlanders, but even he wasn't sure he could be capable of the quantity and strength of emotions that Oysters went through on a daily basis.

Hatter smiled. "Trivial things. Crumbs in the butter."

Even though he could tell she was annoyed by his evasion, she still laughed. "Sounds interesting."

"More than the song of a Grizzerby," he replied playfully. She rolled her eyes the way she did every time he used a saying from Wonderland, knowing full well she wouldn't understand it. "Silly birds," he explained. "Got two heads, and each head can sing three songs at once. Can pass hours tryin' to hear all six songs." He set his hat on the table and stood up. "I'm gonna pop into the shower. Unless you'd like to join me," he added with a wink.

Alice laughed again, real and bright, and shoved his chest with a sudsy hand. "Get out of here."

Hatter smirked and ducked his head in to steal a quick kiss, and then disappeared into the bathroom. A nice hot shower and a good night's sleep would clear his head and put this awful, edgy day behind them.

* * *

Alice sighed and snuggled herself closer to Hatter's side. As if it was instinct, Hatter draped his arm over her shoulders without glancing up from the book in his own lap. Reading together before bed had become a nightly routine of theirs, although more often than not it would end up being just him reading while she dozed against him.

They had only been at it ten minutes tonight and her mind was already drifting. She couldn't get herself to focus on the textbook she was supposed to be reading for the science course she was taking at the city college. Instead she fell back on her usual stand-by: watching Hatter.

She liked to see the change that came over him while reading. Books had become one of Hatter's greatest loves in her world. Growing up in a place where all of the books were locked away for safe keeping, reading had been a leisure activity rarely enjoyed. The fact that books of every kind were so readily available in her world had spun his mind, and he devoured them all eagerly. They made weekly trips to the library and sometimes even that wasn't often enough to keep him going.

At the moment Hatter was reclined in the sofa, his ankles propped up on the coffee table with his book spread open across his knees. His hair was still damp from the shower, and it was starting to curl and flip around his head in its typical style. Narrow creases had formed in his forehead as his chocolate eyes narrowed in concentration, darting back and forth across the page. There was a soft smile twisting up his lips, just shy of making the dimple appear in his cheek, and it made him look peaceful. This was _her_ Hatter, the one that only she ever saw.

"Why is a raven like a writing desk?"

Alice blinked in surprise. Hatter hadn't taken his focus off his book, and if she hadn't been staring at his mouth she wouldn't even have been sure he had actually spoken.

"What?" she asked, puzzled by the comment.

"Why is a raven like a writing desk?" he repeated, turning the page in his book.

"I don't know," she said. "Why?"

Hatter chuckled. "Well I dunno, do I? Else I wouldn't need be askin'." He finally glanced up from his book to grin at her. "You seemed so bored, I thought I may as well give ya somethin' worth thinkin' 'bout." His gaze went back to the book as the dimple in his cheek surfaced. "'Sides, your starin' is distracting."

Sitting up, Alice set her hand on top of his book. When he looked up at her she was smiling impishly. "Maybe I was _trying_ to distract you," she said suggestively, leaning in to kiss the side of his neck. Hatter's eyes brightened and he immediately set aside the book.

"Well then, love, by all means," he said flippantly. "Distract away."

She didn't need any further prompting.

* * *

_He was in a wood, of that much Hatter was certain. It wasn't the Forest of Wabe, however. The trees here were too old, too – talkative. They were whispering to each other over his head, so softly that he couldn't make out the words. Wherever he was, the very air hummed with magic._

_"You really ought to run."_

_Hatter spun around but he couldn't see anyone. "Who's there?"_

_From behind a tree stepping a bushy, gray-and-violet striped cat. It sat down on the roots of the tree and stared at him with intelligent, shining eyes. Hatter's heart leapt into his throat. A Cheshire!_

_"I'm dreaming," he concluded aloud. He had to be; no one had seen a Cheshire in over a hundred years. Not to mention he was fairly certain that Cheshires were too tied to the magic of Wonderland to be able to cross over to the Oysterworld._

_"Obviously," the cat responded, licking one of its paws lazily._

_"Why?" He knew the old stories; a Cheshire only ever presented itself when something important was about to happen. They were omens, of a sort. Whenever a Cheshire had cropped up in his school history books, it had always inevitably been followed by some dramatic event of change in Wonderland, like with the first Alice-of-Legend._

_"Why ask me? This is your dream, after all." The cat cocked its head, its lamp-like eyes glimmering knowingly. "Perhaps you should ask that."_

_Hatter turned to see what the cat was staring at and instinctively stumbled backward in terror. There was a bolt of black charging straight toward him, its white eyes fixated on him. Between the eyes was a long silvery horn, and the realisation burst out of him in a breathless gasp. "A unicorn."_

_The horn pierced straight through his chest like a knife through warm butter, and there was an explosion of blood droplets as the pain consumed him._

* * *

Hatter swallowed his scream as his eyes snapped open. Immediately his hands went to his chest but the skin was smooth and undisturbed. Even the relief of having not been gored to death couldn't steady him. Alice was still sleeping peacefully – she was a much heavier sleeper than him – and he carefully slipped out of bed and headed for the bathroom. He shut the door behind him quietly before flicking on the luminous yellow lights.

His reflection was the first thing that caught his attention. The glow of the lighting did nothing to disguise the fact that he was pale as the moon. His eyes were wide and the pupils dilated from adrenaline. He could actually see the frantic beat of his heart in the artery in his neck. At his side his right hand was fisted so tightly the veins along his muscles were bulging beneath the skin.

"A Cheshire dream," he murmured aloud, his mind still reeling. He wanted to tell himself that it was just a dream, and that his mind had conjured up the images out of some sort of dormant fear, but he knew it wasn't true. He'd actually been visited by a Cheshire cat. Nothing good could come of this situation.

Leaning on the counter, he tried to analyse the dream for meaning. It had been in Wonderland, surely. As far as he could tell, the magic of the Oysterworld had died away a long time ago. It had been barely clinging on in Wonderland, and even then only in the oldest and most undisturbed of places. Far away from the city and the casino.

And there had been a unicorn there. That was impossible though. The unicorns had gone from Wonderland centuries ago, so long that they had disappeared into the realm of myths even before the time of the first Alice-of-Legend. So what could his dream possibly have meant?

"Madness," he muttered, shaking his head and dragging a hand through his hair. "Cracked kettles and marmalade." There was really no purpose in trying to decipher a Cheshire dream. The stupid things never actually made sense until they had come to pass anyhow.

Still, clearly the Cheshire had been trying to warn him of something. Maybe it would be a good time to take a bit of a holiday. He and Alice could go on a trip; get away for a couple days and put this whole thing behind them. Perhaps he would take the Stone of Wonderland and hide it away somewhere far from the Looking Glass, just in case.

Hatter splashed cool water on his face and then made to go back into the bedroom. He would tell Alice about it all in the morning, and they could make some excuse to go away. A couple's retreat, maybe for some vague anniversary type thing. He had just shut off the bathroom light when he heard something out of place in the quiet flat; a creaking floorboard.

He froze in the doorway, his ears straining for any other sound, and then he heard it. A shuffle of steps on the hardwood. Running on the balls of his feet to keep quiet, Hatter darted across to the bed. He placed a hand over Alice's mouth and shook her. She woke up in a flash, and at the look of alarm in her eyes he placed a finger to his lips, signalling for her to keep quiet. When she nodded he drew his hand back and she sat up. _What?_ she mouthed in the darkness.

He pointed to his ear and then out to the living room, and she nodded again. Standing up, he crept cautiously toward the door to the next room. Alice followed a half-step behind him. Hatter paused beside the door and fisted his right hand, gesturing for her to stand on the other side of the frame. She scowled at him and for a minute he thought she would actually argue with him about it, but she slipped over to the other side and pressed herself against the wall, her arms raised in a fighting stance.

Content that she was safe for the moment – because when the door opened she would be shielded from view by it – he flattened his ear against the door and listened. There were more hushed steps, heavy but deliberate. Whoever it was, they were obviously big. They were moving casually, almost lazily, as if the person was unafraid of being caught, but most surely in the direction of their bedroom.

They waited, expectantly, as the footsteps slowly advanced. Hatter's arm was starting to ache from being flexed for so long, but he didn't dare release his grip. Not when his Alice might be in danger. The steps paused on the other side of the door. Hatter watched the knob, waiting for the fidget that would warn of someone opening the door. One second... Two seconds... Three-

_BANG!_

The door burst open like there had been an explosion. Hatter heard a startled scream as it swung wide and hit Alice, who was crouched behind it. Bracing his feet, he threw his fist hard in the direction of the intruder. The wooden doorframe shattered under his hit, sending splinters and paint chips flying in every direction. Before he could recover from the misplaced attack, an arm threaded around his neck.

"Gerroff me!" he growled, grabbing the arm around his throat and trying to use the attacker's weight against him, the way Alice had taught him. The only result was a series of deep, painful scratches where the assailant's fingernails clawed at his neck for a better grip. The world started tilting perilously, and he threw his elbow back, driving it into the other man's stomach. The choke-hold finally loosened enough for him to break free, and he pivoted around, ready to throw himself back into the fight.

The sight that met him made him stagger in shock. It couldn't be. It wasn't possible. The taller man grinned darkly. "Hello, Hatter."

Hatter's eyes widened in alarm even as he scowled. "Gryphon."

* * *

It all happened so quickly she couldn't quite process it. One minute she and Hatter had been crouched on either side of the door, listening for signs of the intruder. The next thing she knew, the door had burst open so hard that it had knocked her back into the wall, bashing her head against the bricks. Alice clutched her head, willing the spinning to stop. She could hear the sound of fighting and knew that Hatter needed her help.

"Hello, Hatter." The voice was sharp and gravelly, with a liberal amount of condescension, and clearly belonged to a man. It took her approximately an extra four seconds to realise that the man had addressed him as Hatter, meaning that he must know Hatter from Wonderland. But how was that possible? The Looking Glass was closed.

"Gryphon," Hatter replied, and she could hear something in his voice that sounded a bit like fear. Pressing a hand against the throbbing side of her head, she clambered to her feet and took in the scene in front of her.

Hatter was standing, crouched defensively, and there were four long scratches across his face and neck that were oozing blood onto his bare chest. Standing opposite him was a taller man, whose swept-back ginger hair was liberally streaked with silver. When he shifted his weight it made the tails of his trench-coat swirl against his legs and she realised with a jolt that this must have been the man she'd seen in the dojo mirror.

As she straightened up, Hatter's gaze flicked over the man's shoulder to meet hers, and he blanched further than he already had. "Alice, run!" he commanded.

The man turned on his heel and she could actually feel his dark-eyed stare as it weighed over her. "So, this is the Alice-of-New-Legend that I've heard so much about," he mused. "I expected a bit more. At least she's older than the last." Hatter suddenly staggered. His gaze had gone slack, and he touched the scratches on his neck lightly. The man – Gryphon – chuckled as he picked at one of his unnaturally pointed fingernails. "You feel it now, don't you?"

Hatter looked up at Alice again and this time his expression was one of pure terror. "Run, Alice!" he repeated, but his voice was weak. He buckled to one knee, fighting to keep his balance. "He's dosed. Don' let 'im touch ya. Run!"

Ignoring him, Alice unlocked her knees and lifted her arms, ready to attack at a moment's notice. "What did you do to him?" she growled at the man angrily.

"He'll survive, don't worry your pretty little head," Gryphon said dismissively. He suddenly let out a loud bellow as Hatter launched himself at the backs of the larger man's knees, and they tumbled to a heap on the ground.

"Alice, go!" Hatter gasped out, wrestling to keep the other man down.

As usual, she didn't listen to him. Instead she bolted forward and pounced on the man, hitting him in the throat with her flat fist. He choked, but grabbed her upper arm and tugged roughly. His nails dug furrows into her skin as he tossed her aside like she weighed nothing. Alice tried to climb to her feet, but somehow her balance felt off. She must have hit her head harder than she'd thought.

"Sleep now, Alice-of-New-Legend," the man said as he straightened up and dusted off his coat. She slumped backwards against the bed frame, feeling a strange pulling sensation in the back of her mind. Like she had gone too many hours without sleep and now it was threatening to drown her. Her eyes flicked to Hatter, who was sprawled, unconscious, across the area rug. As she watched Gryphon stooped down and lifted his body, swinging it over his shoulder like a sack.

"Don't hurt him," Alice snarled between gritted teeth, trying to shove herself to her feet again. She failed, and wound up hitting the floor hard, her breath bursting out of her as her back collided with the hardwood.

"Oh I won't," Gryphon replied but there was something sinister around his smile as he leered down at her. "But as for the others, well, I can't promise anything."

Questions were all struggling to burst out of her at once, but she couldn't make her tongue form the proper words. Darkness was teasing the edges of her vision and it was getting harder to fight off the exhaustion threatening to drag her under. "Hatter," she mumbled thickly, and her eyes sought out his face, hovering feet above hers. It was pale and slack and striped with blood.

Gryphon's heavy footsteps carried him out into the hall, taking Hatter away from her view, at the same time that she lost consciousness.


End file.
